23andMe is best known for its Ancestry and Ancestry + Health DNA tests. The Ancestry test reveals which regions of the world your ancestors hailed from, while the Ancestry + Health test offers additional insights on your genetic risk for conditions like celiac disease, late-onset Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. It can also reveal if you're a carrier for inherited conditions like cystic fibrosis.

But should calculating breast and ovarian cancer risk be left to specialists? Previously, women with a personal or family history of breast or ovarian cancer were advised to seek genetic counseling to see if they should have BRCA testing in the first place, points out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

It's also important to have a doctor's guidance when considering the implications of the test, including what a positive, negative, or indeterminate result means. "Pretest counseling is incredibly important and all national guidelines in this country recommend that genetic testing go hand-in-hand with genetic counseling," says Melinda Telli, M.D., medical oncologist, breast specialist at Stanford University Medical Center.

She's seen first hand the stress that receiving results without counseling can have on a patient. "It's extremely upsetting. Patients may panic because they don't know what their results mean," she says. A mail-in DNA test doesn’t provide this service, and you’re largely on your own to recognize and accept the risks of the test.

Plus, there are 1,000 known BRCA mutations — and the three that the 23andMe test will be able to detect aren’t even the most common, Reuters reports. In fact, these BRCA variants are most likely found in those of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, according to the FDA. However, as the company points out in its release, women with these mutations have a 45 to 85% higher chance of developing breast cancer.

Traditional BRCA testing is far more comprehensive. "When we test BRCA 1 and 2, we look for any possible mutation or rearrangement in both genes," says Telli. Even when someone of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry comes in, doctors still order the full sequencing, she says.

Plus, the test might provide some women with a false sense of security, says Deborah Lindner, M.D., chief medical officer at Bright Pink. "By doing this specific test, and getting a negative result, someone might perceive that they are not at risk for these cancers, when in fact they might be at increased risk for carrying another mutation that was not part of the test," she says.

If you take an at-home test, the best thing you can do is bring your results to a physician who is knowledgeable in genetics, says Lindner. "They can help you interpret the test results correctly and even suggest further testing if a different test is recommended to better determine your risk," she adds. (Learn about the genetic mutations that affect your risk and genetic counseling at Bright Pink's ExploreYourGenetics.org.)

If you do get a positive result, take a deep breath. "A positive result to a cancer genetics test is not a death sentence. It is an opportunity to better understand the risk you already have and then to take action to reduce that risk," says Lindner.

If you’re concerned about your risk, talking to your doctor should be your first step.

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